| Edward Verne Roberts | |
| Born | January 23, 1939 |
|---|---|
| Died | March 14, 1995 |
| Occupation | Disability rights activist |
Edward Verne Roberts (January 23, 1939- March 14, 1995) was the first student with severe disabilities to attend the University of California, Berkeley. Events 393 - Roman Emperor Theodosius I proclaims his nine year old son Honorius co-emperor Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1489 - The Queen of Cyprus, Catherine Cornaro, sells her kingdom to Venice. Year 1995 ( MCMXCV) was a Common year starting on Sunday. Events of 1995 The University of California Berkeley (also referred to as Cal, Berkeley and UC Berkeley) is a major research university located in Berkeley He became one of the founders and one of the greatest leaders of the disability rights movement. The disability rights movement aims to improve the Quality of life of people with disabilities.
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Early life
Ed Roberts contracted polio as an adolescent in 1953. Poliomyelitis, often called polio or infantile paralysis, is an acute viral Infectious disease spread from person to person primarily via Year 1953 ( MCMLIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. For the first year of his illness, he spent all of his time in a hospital. Eventually he left the hospital, but had to spend vast expanses of time in an iron lung. An iron lung is a large machine that enables a person to breathe when normal Muscle control has been lost or the work of breathing exceeds the person's ability For a while, he thought of himself as a "helpless cripple," but eventually he graduated from high school after he and his mother worked to have the physical education and drivers license requirements of graduation waived. He noticed the large amount of attention that his disability gained him, and decided to use this attention for positive purposes.
Activism
Ed Roberts is often called the father of the disability rights movement. His work began in a personal effort to go to college. He had to work hard, including suing the California Department of Vocational Rehabilitation because they thought he was too disabled. It was a battle to get Berkeley to accept him, because, as a dean explained, "We've tried cripples before and it didn't work. "
Instead of living in a dorm, the university housed him in the student infirmary, as it was the only room on campus with a floor that could support the weight of his iron lung. As other quads gained admission, and were also housed in the infirmary, they began to push for more rights on campus.
Roberts spearheaded the drive for such basic accommodations such as curb cuts at Berkeley. A curb cut ( US) curb ramp, dropped kerb ( UK) or pram ramp ( Australia) is a ramp leading smoothly down from a Sidewalk With the addition of five other severely-disabled students, who called themselves the "rolling quads," he lobbied for the creation for the first disabled students program at a university.
Their on campus success led to pursuit of access and rights in the community. This led to him becoming one of the founding members of and directors of the Center for Independent Living and World Institute on Disability.
He earned B.A. (1964) and M.A. (1966) degrees from UC Berkeley in Political Science. A Master of Arts ( Latin: Magister Artium) is a Postgraduate academic Master's degree awarded by universities in a large The University of California Berkeley (also referred to as Cal, Berkeley and UC Berkeley) is a major research university located in Berkeley He became an official Ph. D. Candidate (C. Phil. ) in political science at Berkeley in 1969, but did not complete his Ph. D. [1]
See also
References
- Shapiro, Joseph P. Independent Living, as seen by its Advocates is a Philosophy, a way of looking at Disability and Society, and a worldwide movement of people A disability rights activist or disability rights advocate is someone who works towards the equality of people with Disabilities. No Pity: People with Disabilities Forging a New Civil Rights Movement. Random House, 1993.
External links
- World Institute on Disability article by Joan Leon
- Ed Roberts tribute from the Center for Independent Living
- A biographical article on Ed
- Another biographical article on ed
- The story about Ed's wheelchair being donated to the Smithsonian
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